Representatives from the Greater Cleveland Congregations announced their opposition to using public dollars on arena renovations without public input or benefit. The GCC, said several speakers, is "NOT all in."

The Power of Common Ground

It was two years ago that members of the grass-roots advocacy group Common Ground were researching foreclosed properties in Milwaukee’s Sherman Park neighborhood. They discovered that a major holder of the mortgages was Nationstar and digging deeper, found that Nationstar was a subsidiary of Fortress Investment Group, a company founded by Milwaukee Bucks owner Wes Edens, who was demanding a huge tax subsidy for a new arena.

BUILD Re-Shapes Market Dynamics For Baltimore Redevelopment

"Within days following the 2002 murders of the Dawson family, who were killed in retaliation for one member's testimony against area drug dealers, 400 people from Baltimoreans United in Leadership (BUILD) and the city's Oliver community stood in front of the Dawsons' firebombed home and vowed to not let those seven deaths be in vain. The group organized and made a strong commitment to changing the neighborhood.

Bucks’ Owners Win, at Wisconsin’s Expense

Not all Milwaukeeans gave the new owners a hug. Last year, Southeastern Wisconsin Common Ground — a fine coalition of churches, synagogues, mosques and community groups — surveyed the city’s pitted fields and dilapidated recreation centers and proposed that an arena bond issue should include money for Milwaukee’s playing fields. The group also pushed for a public referendum.

Common Ground Calls Bucks Owner 'Billionaire Bully'

About 100 members of Common Ground met in the City Hall lobby Wednesday, calling the owners of the Milwaukee Bucks "billionaire bullies" who neither need nor deserve public money to build a new downtown sports arena.

"In the recent Pharr City Commission election, Valley Interfaith leaders knew the races were likely to be close. They calculated that if they turned out their supporters and members, particularly in south Pharr, they could impact the election and thus have leverage on which policies get implemented.”

Baltimore Unrest Highlights City's Deprivation

After the global financial crisis hit in 2007, the small business that Mr Bey set up after his final jail stint ran into trouble. “I found myself falling backwards very quickly [and] drugs came back into my life.”

Bucks Arena Financing Faces Tight Timetable... and Common Ground

....Then there is Common Ground, a community group that is opposed to the use of public money for the new arena. The group wants public money for improved playgrounds and recreational spaces in Milwaukee County.